parliament

Members Statement: John Patsikatheodorou

June 19, 2018

Ros SPENCE (Yuroke) (14:17:09) — It is with much sadness that I rise to acknowledge the passing of a wonderful friend, John Patsikatheodorou. John passed away suddenly in the early hours of 5 June. Only hours earlier he had been at the Hume City Council meeting, serving his community through advocacy and encouragement of community group budget submissions.

John was a beloved husband to Helen. Helen herself is an esteemed resident, having been a long-term volunteer and serving as a Hume councillor from 2008 to 2016, including as mayor in 2010–11 and 2015–16. John, as her soulmate and partner in all things, stepped up to serve, as he happily referred to himself, as the mayoress or Helen’s bag man, carrying her bag and being by Helen’s side every step of the way, attending so many events and functions and encouraging Helen as she served in her role. This was no surprise to many, as John and Helen had been side by side supporting each other for over 35 years. Helen and John have three outstanding sons in Dimitri, Stavros and Nicholas, all of whom have gone on to be very successful young men. This is no surprise given who their parents are.

John’s community service dates back decades. He dropped out of university in the 1970s to help survivors of Cyclone Tracy, and since then he has assisted so many community groups and committees such as Brite Services in Broadmeadows, the Inner Western Region Migrant Resource Centre — as its CEO — the Gladstone Park Community Centre, the Greek Orthodox Community of Broadmeadows and District, Women’s Health West, the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition and of course his beloved Labor Party, which he joined some 43 years ago. John was committed to social justice. He was a true champion. Condolences to the family. Vale, John.